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We March At Midnight: A War Memoir
What would the war do without me?
We March at Midnight is award-winning author Ray McPadden's chronicle of his experience as a highly decorated Ranger Officer leading some of the most dangerous missions during the height of the Iraq and Afghan wars. In 2005, Ray joined the army in search of what he calls ''the moment'' -- a chance to prove to himself and his brothers in arms that he is a true leader. His job is to establish the first outpost in the Korengal, Afghanistan's deadliest valley, and his decisions and mistakes will have a permanent impact on the men he commands. During the fifteen-month tour, his unit receives numerous decorations for valor while suffering nearly 50 percent casualties, ultimately accomplishing their mission in a land considered unwinnable.
Prowess with a rifle platoon soon earns Ray a position in the world's premiere raiding force, the 75th Ranger Regiment, an accomplishment earned by less than 1 percent of the officers in the US Army, and during the most combat-heavy period of the twenty-first century. Ray spearheads the first joint-strike force of Army Rangers and Navy SEALs, in a shadow war against the agents of a foreign government, where lightning raids by helicopter, armored vehicle, and foot are his nightly routine.
In 2009, when Ray returns to the same corner of Afghanistan where his military career began, he suddenly finds himself tasked with leading Rangers against a target he knows all too well: the home of friends from his first tour. As he leads one last raid, Ray is at war with himself. Conquering this unexpected enemy proves the greatest challenge of all.
We March at Midnight is a blood-spattered tour de force of growing up, leadership, the nature of war, and its aftermath.
We March at Midnight is award-winning author Ray McPadden's chronicle of his experience as a highly decorated Ranger Officer leading some of the most dangerous missions during the height of the Iraq and Afghan wars. In 2005, Ray joined the army in search of what he calls ''the moment'' -- a chance to prove to himself and his brothers in arms that he is a true leader. His job is to establish the first outpost in the Korengal, Afghanistan's deadliest valley, and his decisions and mistakes will have a permanent impact on the men he commands. During the fifteen-month tour, his unit receives numerous decorations for valor while suffering nearly 50 percent casualties, ultimately accomplishing their mission in a land considered unwinnable.
Prowess with a rifle platoon soon earns Ray a position in the world's premiere raiding force, the 75th Ranger Regiment, an accomplishment earned by less than 1 percent of the officers in the US Army, and during the most combat-heavy period of the twenty-first century. Ray spearheads the first joint-strike force of Army Rangers and Navy SEALs, in a shadow war against the agents of a foreign government, where lightning raids by helicopter, armored vehicle, and foot are his nightly routine.
In 2009, when Ray returns to the same corner of Afghanistan where his military career began, he suddenly finds himself tasked with leading Rangers against a target he knows all too well: the home of friends from his first tour. As he leads one last raid, Ray is at war with himself. Conquering this unexpected enemy proves the greatest challenge of all.
We March at Midnight is a blood-spattered tour de force of growing up, leadership, the nature of war, and its aftermath.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published August 3, 2021
64 people are currently reading
1479 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
August 10, 2021
I read these types of books to get insight into PTSD and this book was so well written. Definitely one of my favorites that I will be recommending to customers. An emotional experience for sure and one that someone never forgets. These books are ones that stay with me and help me understand what haunts my husband and what I won't understand.
Thank you for your service Ray McPadden.
Thank you for your service Ray McPadden.
August 16, 2021
Phenomenal! One of the best books I’ve read on combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Raw, candid and containing no frills, We March At Midnight puts you right into the fight alongside author Ray McPadden. It’s simply unputdownable and I’m once again left feeling pride and gratitude towards men like Mr. McPadden for putting themselves into harms way in the name of the United States of America and protecting freedom around the world.
The beauty of We March At Midnight, and what makes it so effective and enthralling to read, is the simplicity of the straight shooting, no BS, “just the facts, ma’am” account of Mr. McPadden’s time in Afghanistan and Iraq, the missions he led, the men he commanded, his thoughts and psyche, and the results of his decisions both good and bad. Furthermore, getting a glimpse into his correspondence with his wife while deployed and the relationship they try to build while he’s back stateside is quite powerful.
Thank you, Mr. McPadden, for your service and for your vulnerability to write about your experience at war and trying to maintain a strong relationship with your wife. I believe this book will be helpful to others in many ways, going way beyond providing a historical account or entertainment to some.
I highly recommend We March At Midnight to anyone who’s interested in military history, thriller fiction novels, and/or those who just like reading a powerfully good book.
The beauty of We March At Midnight, and what makes it so effective and enthralling to read, is the simplicity of the straight shooting, no BS, “just the facts, ma’am” account of Mr. McPadden’s time in Afghanistan and Iraq, the missions he led, the men he commanded, his thoughts and psyche, and the results of his decisions both good and bad. Furthermore, getting a glimpse into his correspondence with his wife while deployed and the relationship they try to build while he’s back stateside is quite powerful.
Thank you, Mr. McPadden, for your service and for your vulnerability to write about your experience at war and trying to maintain a strong relationship with your wife. I believe this book will be helpful to others in many ways, going way beyond providing a historical account or entertainment to some.
I highly recommend We March At Midnight to anyone who’s interested in military history, thriller fiction novels, and/or those who just like reading a powerfully good book.
December 8, 2024
An intimate, fast-paced and candid memoir
The narrative is coherent and pretty straightforward. The insight into McPadden’s emotional state and the toll the wars put on his family are presented fully. The scenes of combat, large and small, are pretty vivid and precise. The weighty responsibilities of the infantry officer are well told, as is the ambivalence and disillusionment about wars and missions that soldiers don’t necessarily believe in, the fears, and the desire of the elite soldier to prove that he is the best. He also does a good job explaining how, as in all wars, the overarching political and strategic goals get fuzzy at the tactical level, and often boil down to a soldier simply trying to save the life of a fellow soldier, and his own. The author’s struggles with PTSD are covered in the final sections of the narrative, in what he calls “demilitarizing.”
The prose is pretty human, and is mostly written in present tense, with terse sentences and lots of jargon that readers will hopefully be familiar with. Like so many good war memoirs, McPadden describes unspeakable horrors in a calm, matter-of-fact tone. He definitely succeeds in underlining the high human cost of America’s forever wars.
The book does end a bit abruptly, and some of the story’s threads and themes are left kind of open-ended. Still, a raw and visceral work.
The narrative is coherent and pretty straightforward. The insight into McPadden’s emotional state and the toll the wars put on his family are presented fully. The scenes of combat, large and small, are pretty vivid and precise. The weighty responsibilities of the infantry officer are well told, as is the ambivalence and disillusionment about wars and missions that soldiers don’t necessarily believe in, the fears, and the desire of the elite soldier to prove that he is the best. He also does a good job explaining how, as in all wars, the overarching political and strategic goals get fuzzy at the tactical level, and often boil down to a soldier simply trying to save the life of a fellow soldier, and his own. The author’s struggles with PTSD are covered in the final sections of the narrative, in what he calls “demilitarizing.”
The prose is pretty human, and is mostly written in present tense, with terse sentences and lots of jargon that readers will hopefully be familiar with. Like so many good war memoirs, McPadden describes unspeakable horrors in a calm, matter-of-fact tone. He definitely succeeds in underlining the high human cost of America’s forever wars.
The book does end a bit abruptly, and some of the story’s threads and themes are left kind of open-ended. Still, a raw and visceral work.
January 18, 2022
The very high quality of the writing in this book, as well as the clear-eyed, largely unflinching and seldom self aggrandizing honesty of the author, sets it apart from almost every other GWOT memoir currently (2022) out there. The author fought both in Afghanistan and Iraq, and his experiences are unique and yet in a way universal. I consider this a must read if you are interested in this era of military history.
December 8, 2025
ray is an entertaining, funny, somber, intelligent, and deeply introspective writer. parts of his story made me laugh and some made me so sad. it’s fitting i finished this book sitting in the grass, where his story ends. it isn’t so much as a war story, but more how war changed him. ray starts the book overconfident, cocky, and ends up grateful and changed. his ghosts will continue to haunt him. i love how his relationship with elizabeth was real, with its ups and downs, but so pure and loving at the same time. she wasn’t sidelined as “the wife character” but had personality and agency and meaning. it’s so rare for a memoir to tell a story like this and i greatly appreciated reading it. also massive props to the audiobook narrator for upping this experience tenfold.
reread review:
the end made me tear up god so bittersweet. rereading ray’s story was so fascinating and hits so different since my ex boyfriend is an infantry soldier and aims to be a ranger. in a way it made me realize that i don’t think he’s cut out to be it (in the nicest way possible), but who am i to say? such a good, raw, and moving memoir i highly recommend it. the chapter about the seals will always be my favorite. one of the best books i’ve read this year.
reread review:
the end made me tear up god so bittersweet. rereading ray’s story was so fascinating and hits so different since my ex boyfriend is an infantry soldier and aims to be a ranger. in a way it made me realize that i don’t think he’s cut out to be it (in the nicest way possible), but who am i to say? such a good, raw, and moving memoir i highly recommend it. the chapter about the seals will always be my favorite. one of the best books i’ve read this year.
December 28, 2021
RLTW
Thanks for your service and the honest telling of your experiences. Great read! Thanks to the Team House for bringing me here. RLTW
Thanks for your service and the honest telling of your experiences. Great read! Thanks to the Team House for bringing me here. RLTW
May 29, 2022
First of all, I’ll always have respect for the men and women of the military and the sacrifices they make. This author included. However, I’m not a fan of the author’s writing style. I get the impression that he wants to come across as humble, but he doesn’t. Instead he’s cocky. I think the book would have read better if sold as fiction and not a memoir.
January 22, 2024
Thought this book sounded good, but was unsure of my interest level as it's written by a former infantry platoon leader. While I had some similar experiences, my being a combat engineer is certainly different from the author's wartime deployments. Regardless, I did find the narrative compelling, we did have numerous similar experiences, and thus I finished the book quickly. Key thoughts are below.
- I did struggle initially with the author's description's of the relationship he had with his spouse. Luckily my experience with my wife has been very different than the author's. My marriage, wrapped up in the military for 30+ years, has been much less explosive; somehow we've always gotten along. This is probably what got me through my deployment rotations.
- The author is obviously many year groups junior to me thus it was interesting to hear a different perspective. While different, he made a statement that is absolute truth. He stated that war is freedom. In training, you always have someone older than you watching your every move... and critiquing every mistake (real or perceived). In combat, you're on your own, thus combat operations can be very liberating, exciting, and tremendously empowering. I saw one platoon in my battalion (luckily not in my company) go rouge in this respect to the point that the leadership was fired, and some members ended up in Ft. Leavenworth. This "freedom" of action is probably what led me to return to combat theaters over and over again. You could do more in a week in combat than you could in a year back home. Maybe this is why joint time in combat is worth three times what stateside joint time is.
- "Special guys". Special forces, ranger, SEALs, etc, consistently dropped into big Army landowners' area of operations, shot people up, pissed off civilians, and then disappeared again into their special compounds leaving the big Army units to have to deal with the consequences. I guess this had to be done, but I do feel for my combat arms brothers who had to mop up after these raids.
- I was intrigued by the young platoon leaders zeal for helping build a project for a local warlord/chief. While its very noble to try to build something for these local leaders, one has to know that they're often playing each side for their own personal benefit. I helped build countless schools, water treatment plants, farms, etc, that I'm sure are all empty today and the sustainability of such projects was never a consideration. We spent money to buy off the locals. Not complaining, it's just a fact of what we did to hopefully reduce the threat... and get us home safely.
- I did struggle initially with the author's description's of the relationship he had with his spouse. Luckily my experience with my wife has been very different than the author's. My marriage, wrapped up in the military for 30+ years, has been much less explosive; somehow we've always gotten along. This is probably what got me through my deployment rotations.
- The author is obviously many year groups junior to me thus it was interesting to hear a different perspective. While different, he made a statement that is absolute truth. He stated that war is freedom. In training, you always have someone older than you watching your every move... and critiquing every mistake (real or perceived). In combat, you're on your own, thus combat operations can be very liberating, exciting, and tremendously empowering. I saw one platoon in my battalion (luckily not in my company) go rouge in this respect to the point that the leadership was fired, and some members ended up in Ft. Leavenworth. This "freedom" of action is probably what led me to return to combat theaters over and over again. You could do more in a week in combat than you could in a year back home. Maybe this is why joint time in combat is worth three times what stateside joint time is.
- "Special guys". Special forces, ranger, SEALs, etc, consistently dropped into big Army landowners' area of operations, shot people up, pissed off civilians, and then disappeared again into their special compounds leaving the big Army units to have to deal with the consequences. I guess this had to be done, but I do feel for my combat arms brothers who had to mop up after these raids.
- I was intrigued by the young platoon leaders zeal for helping build a project for a local warlord/chief. While its very noble to try to build something for these local leaders, one has to know that they're often playing each side for their own personal benefit. I helped build countless schools, water treatment plants, farms, etc, that I'm sure are all empty today and the sustainability of such projects was never a consideration. We spent money to buy off the locals. Not complaining, it's just a fact of what we did to hopefully reduce the threat... and get us home safely.
April 14, 2023
It’s hard to know what to make of Ray McPadden’s memoir of leading troops in battle in both Iraq and Afghanistan. On the one hand it’s amazing he’s still married to his original wife after volunteering to go to Afghanistan shortly after they are married. He spends something like 450 of his first 500 days of marriage deployed…
He’s honest, sometimes brutally honest, about both himself and his men. He admits some early mistakes leading under fire which, according to him, is the reason some in his platoon are killed, but I saw them more as just the fortunes of a nasty guerrilla war. He’s occasionally hard on his men, a platoon sergeant is injured and evacuated and he never forgives him for being injured and needing evacuation which is quite weird.
Mr McPadden is also quite a bit of an ass both in the field and while back in the states. He one time has to be talked into evacuating an Iraqi kid who was shot in the gut in the crossfire of a firefight, in which Mr McPadden seems quite content just to leave him to die. This kind of goes to show you that you can be a good leader of men in war, and not a very nice person, for Mr McPadden is a good combat leader.
There are some very good lessons on and about leadership in the book which makes it essential reading for new officers or people who lead other people, but man Mr. McPadden is quite insufferable.
He’s honest, sometimes brutally honest, about both himself and his men. He admits some early mistakes leading under fire which, according to him, is the reason some in his platoon are killed, but I saw them more as just the fortunes of a nasty guerrilla war. He’s occasionally hard on his men, a platoon sergeant is injured and evacuated and he never forgives him for being injured and needing evacuation which is quite weird.
Mr McPadden is also quite a bit of an ass both in the field and while back in the states. He one time has to be talked into evacuating an Iraqi kid who was shot in the gut in the crossfire of a firefight, in which Mr McPadden seems quite content just to leave him to die. This kind of goes to show you that you can be a good leader of men in war, and not a very nice person, for Mr McPadden is a good combat leader.
There are some very good lessons on and about leadership in the book which makes it essential reading for new officers or people who lead other people, but man Mr. McPadden is quite insufferable.
August 20, 2021
Among the greatest - superlatives fail me!
This is the best Infantry memoir I’ve ever read. I can’t find a higher compliment. Destined to be on the Infantry Officer’s Required Reading List. (Platoon Leader. We were Soldiers Once, and Young. This Kind of War.). The voice, the attitude … anger, fear, more anger, bravery, regret, frustration, … it’s as if they came from inside of me. Echoes. I hope people who were not fortunate enough to be Infantry Officers get the same feeling. “My normal is not normal.”
This is the best Infantry memoir I’ve ever read. I can’t find a higher compliment. Destined to be on the Infantry Officer’s Required Reading List. (Platoon Leader. We were Soldiers Once, and Young. This Kind of War.). The voice, the attitude … anger, fear, more anger, bravery, regret, frustration, … it’s as if they came from inside of me. Echoes. I hope people who were not fortunate enough to be Infantry Officers get the same feeling. “My normal is not normal.”
August 7, 2022
An amazing book. Everyone from granola crunching pacifists to armchair commandos should read this book. If we're going to ask people to be soldiers we should understand who they are and what they become to fill that roll.
His style is terse; his honesty shocking - he is the best of all memoirists, a self aware, somewhat self mocking, soldier narrating his time at war and afterward. He writes of his flaws and failures and the fight back to normalcy.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
His style is terse; his honesty shocking - he is the best of all memoirists, a self aware, somewhat self mocking, soldier narrating his time at war and afterward. He writes of his flaws and failures and the fight back to normalcy.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
Read
December 15, 2022Ok kept waiting for a chapter with the same title as the book but it never happened. The title appears only once in the book, a mere fragment of a sentence. I read slow, but this book ended too soon. The author did well, a true survivor and a scholar. Buy it. Read it. Recommend it. Mission accomplished!
Oops, I. wrote my review where my title was supposed to be. Hope things turn out as well as this book!
Oops, I. wrote my review where my title was supposed to be. Hope things turn out as well as this book!
January 22, 2023
I got this book as a gift from my sister who is a college-level librarian. She brought several copies home from a conference she went to. I told her I would read and review it for my blog. I have a lot of family in the military or retired from it. This book was one of the best I have read in this genre and thank Ray for sharing his story and experiences with the world. Thank you for your service.
February 23, 2024
I listened to the audiobook. Excellent narrator. Its written by an Army Ranger so the explicits weren't at all surprising. Its a memoir so how do you say his story is good or not? It was a good read. If someone is looking for a real version of a military deployment experiences - this would be it. He didn't try to make it politically correct, beautify the ugly, or make himself into the hero that was better than the shitstorm around him.
September 5, 2021
Fantastic
This really hit home, we chewed some of the same dirt, and at the same time. I appreciate the candor and the author sharing his story. Well-written, and put in a way that only someone who has been there can put it. Thanks for your service and thanks for this great book, I truly could not put it down.
This really hit home, we chewed some of the same dirt, and at the same time. I appreciate the candor and the author sharing his story. Well-written, and put in a way that only someone who has been there can put it. Thanks for your service and thanks for this great book, I truly could not put it down.
January 10, 2022
This is a great war memoir. We see the genesis of the soldier from a young naive lieutenant to in the 10th Mountain Division to a finely trained Army Ranger. We follow his action in battle and his struggles with his home life. He is unafraid to document his feelings about what occurred. The experiences of these soldiers change them. We should be proud of their service and sacrifices.
May 25, 2022
outstanding.
I love this book. Ray McPadden gives the reader a an understanding of the weight of being an infantry officer, the 100mph pace of a Ranger, and the ambivalence of conducting missions you don’t believe in, while feeling the joy of being accompanied by the best troops in the world.
I love this book. Ray McPadden gives the reader a an understanding of the weight of being an infantry officer, the 100mph pace of a Ranger, and the ambivalence of conducting missions you don’t believe in, while feeling the joy of being accompanied by the best troops in the world.
August 16, 2022
…but for the grace of GOD….
Serious shit here, you combat vets won’t be able to put THIS down. Why does this remind me of my WAR and feelings? Because dear reader, killing people is easy, the hard part is pretending to be normal when we got back.
CPT Ken Carlton RVN 69, SS, DFC, BSM
Serious shit here, you combat vets won’t be able to put THIS down. Why does this remind me of my WAR and feelings? Because dear reader, killing people is easy, the hard part is pretending to be normal when we got back.
CPT Ken Carlton RVN 69, SS, DFC, BSM
September 12, 2022
This was a really interesting insight into the mindset of an officer in an elite regiment (Rangers). He's quite self-aware, and is honest about his fairly toxic competitive / macho attitude. It's also an interesting inside look at the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq from the inside, and how they were unwinnable.
October 9, 2024
Ends of your seat read as he takes you through stories of combat, the thoughts and struggles both at home and abroad. Sometimes left me wanting more detail and sometimes left me wondering, “what did that have to do with anything else?!”
Good read. Would read more from this author, not going to shout it from the rooftops as a ‘must read’
Good read. Would read more from this author, not going to shout it from the rooftops as a ‘must read’
November 5, 2021
Powerful. The author brings the reader to the action in Afghanistan, no holds barred. Well written, however, so strongly written that I can not read further. Traumatizing just to read. We should not be at war, no one should ever have to even be near a war.
November 16, 2021
Some of the best writing I've ever encountered in a very long time!
I highly recommend this book! ever insightful and brutally honest, especially towards himself--his thoughts and actions on and off the battlefield.
I highly recommend this book! ever insightful and brutally honest, especially towards himself--his thoughts and actions on and off the battlefield.
August 21, 2022
The war in Afghanistan was pretty much invisible to me. This memoir really opened my eyes to the horror of modern day war. I only gave it three stars because it really isn't something I enjoyed listening to. War stories aren't my thing.
September 6, 2022
3.5. This was a hard one to listen to. What the author went through (and so many others who served) is really hard to fathom. I served, but during the cold war, so my experience was very different. I felt that he really brought us into his world and experiences.
April 13, 2024
Somehow, I bought a used autographed copy that reeked of perfume.
Once I got over the smell, I liked how action packed this memoir was from the beginning and how it was not war-justifying propaganda. It does not whitewash the war like Danger Close.
Once I got over the smell, I liked how action packed this memoir was from the beginning and how it was not war-justifying propaganda. It does not whitewash the war like Danger Close.
July 23, 2024
Good war memoir, 60% is infantry experience and 30% is rangers operations. It doesn't contain many passages of the author's personal life nor does it contain training parts like many seals books do where they describe pre-buds + buds and then there's 30% of actual war memoirs
August 4, 2024
An amazing, authentic account of what it must be like to serve in the military as an army ranger. Pretty realistic. Lots of profanity but that’s likely realistic as well. Easy to listenable by. Fun read
August 8, 2021
Loved! My bestie is reading now.
October 27, 2021
Great "real " read.
Great read. He's honest, even if it sounds anti patriotic, but he tells the truth anyway. Loved the book...on to Burning.
Great read. He's honest, even if it sounds anti patriotic, but he tells the truth anyway. Loved the book...on to Burning.
January 8, 2022
One of the best memoirs written about The GWOT out there.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews